Beck Vass writes in the New Zealand Herald about Professor Richard Faull, who last night was announced as the Supreme Winner of the 2010 World Class New Zealand Awards.
Professor Faull, who has also been awarded the Rutherford Medal, has been studying the human brain for over 35 years in order to better understand (and develop therapies for) neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
An excerpt: (read in full here)
“While Dr Faull found the award “incredible and humbling”, he said that his work would not be possible without the generosity of sufferers of brain disease and their families, who donated brains for scientific research.
“”I call the families the heroes of the disease because they’ve got to live with the disease 24 hours day. And if it’s a genetic disease its even more than that because it can be passed on to them and their children,” he said.
“”We can help them by doing scientific research to understand the tragedy of their lives.””